Brass, Reeds, and Percussion

Brass, Reeds, and Percussion (BRP)—as the name suggests—is a program about music for the wind band (as opposed to the orchestra). The program features music composed for the instruments of the typical American high school band or the typical American military band. Brass, Reeds and Percussion also provides information about local wind band performances, players and history.

About the Host

John Hightower is a “recovering” high school band member, as well as a “recovering” top-40 disc jockey. From 1969 to 1975, while in college, he worked at WSSO and WSMU-FM in Starkville, Mississippi, and WSUH and WOOR-FM in Oxford, Mississippi. Born and reared in Natchez, Mississippi, John has a degree in communications from Mississippi State University (1972) and law degree from the University of Mississippi (1975).

Brass, Reeds, and Percussion is WLRH’s longest running program, started in 1976 by musician Darryl Adams, who used this hourly program to share a love of John Phillips Sousa marches, wind band peformances and seasonal celebrations ... his St. Patrick's Day episode was always a hit. WLRH earliest roots thrives thanks to Darryl sharing his energy and talents with our Tennessee Valley listening community. Darryl was a rare champion for music who helped start one of WLRH's greatest traditions. We'll always be proud to have his association.

Etienne Mehul was considered the most important French opera composer during the French Revolution and is the first composer to be called romantic. During the revolution, he composed patriotic songs. He was able to make the transition to the French Empire and was on good terms with Napoleon Bonaparte and was among the first to receive Légion d'Honneur, an award established by the emperor. Today’s edition of BRP features a brass-band arrangement of the overture to his opera “L’Irato,” composed in 1801.

Brass, Reeds, and Percussion is a program about music written for wind instruments and percussion. The only uniting theme of the program is that the music almost never involves any fiddle playing, although a little bit of fiddle sneaks in every once in a while.

Born in Danzig in 1772, Antonio Casimir Cartellieri was a contemporary of Beethoven, who was 2 years older than Cartellieri. Cartellieri's mother and father taught him music, but he ran away from home at 13 because of their troubled marriage. By age 19, Cartellieri was the musical director and court composer of Prussian Count Oborsky in Berlin, but soon moved to Vienna where he studied under Albrechtsberger and Salieri. Very little of his music has been recorded, but we’ll here some on today’s edition of BRP, including some hot horn parts.

In Prague, 134 years ago today, Julius Fucik was born. He graduated from the Prague Conservatory at age 19 after studying under Anton Dvorak. He became a member of the 49th Infantry Regiment Band of the Austro-Hungarian Army, conducted by Josef Franz Wagner and became a featured bassoon soloist for the band.

Florence is having the Handy Music Festival this month. The Shoals Community Band is having a series of four concerts. So today's edition starts with music composed by W. C. Handy, one of his biggest hits from 1912.

The “Star Spangled Banner” has not always been our national anthem. Indeed, “Hail Columbia” was in the running for quite a while as the the favorite patriotic air of the United States. Furthermore, the tune we know as the “Star Spangled Banner” is really a British drinking song entitled “Anacreon in Heaven.” Francis Scott Key’s words were set to that tune. And it only became the national anthem in 1931.

Michael Jackson is often called the King of Pop. He and his music dominated the popular music charts from approximately 1979 to 1992. His Thriller album was the best-selling album of all time. He received 13 Grammy Awards and had 13 number-one singles on the American charts. It should then come as no surprise that there are wind-band arrangements of his music. The Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra has done a particularly good job of recording his music, and that band is featured on today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion.

Later this month, from June 25 to 28 in Austria in a little town near the northern border of Austria called Ort im Innkreis, the fifth Woodstock der Blasmusik will be held. Ort im Innkreis is roughly equidistant from Vienna, Munich, and Prague. The Woodstock der Blasmusik is a festival of both traditional and modern blasmusik or wind-band music. Meanwhile, you can hear traditional and modern blasmusik during this episode of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion.

The traditional Bohemian, Austrian, or German polka band typically has an instrumentation of a two or three clarinets, accordion, flugelhorns, tenor horns, baritone horns, tuba, and drum set. Variations can occur with flute, piccolo, trumpets, trombones, and a guitar being added A recent trend has been to have all brass instruments.

Memorial Day started out during or after the American Civil War as a way to honor the more than 600,000 who died in that war. It was first called Decoration Day because people would decorate the graves of soldiers who had died in the war. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had become a holiday to honor all those who have died while serving in our armed services. Memorial Day shouldn’t really be confused with Veteran’s Day, which is to honor those who are alive and have served. So today’s edition is dedicated to the memory of those who died in service to our country.

Memorial Day started out during or after the American Civil War as a way to honor the more than 600,000 who died in that war. It was first called Decoration Day because people would decorate the graves of soldiers who had died in the war. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had become a holiday to honor all those who have died while serving in our armed services. Memorial Day shouldn’t really be confused with Veteran’s Day, which is to honor those who are alive and have served. So today’s episode is dedicated to the memory of those who died in service to our country.

On Monday, May 4, 1865, the American Civil War east of the Mississippi River ended. Even after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, the war had continued. On April 16, Union General Wilson defeated the Confederates in the Battle of Columbus, Georgia. On April 18, Confederate General Johnston surrendered to Union General Sherman in Durham, North Carolina. On May 4, Confederate General Taylor surrendered to Union General Canby at Citronelle, Alabama, in Mobile County.

This edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features marches from operas and other classical music sources. Among others, we will hear marches, arranged for wind band, by Edvard Grieg, Giuseppe Verdi, Nikolai Rimsky-Korskov, Charles Gounod, and Peter Tchaikovsky. The show begins with a march heard in all too few operas: The March of the Toreadors from George Bizet’s opera Carmen.

Today, we go to public concerts by rock stars like Elton John or country music singers like Kenny Chesney. Having been a teenager in the 1960s, I can still list the names rock bands from that period: Vanilla Fudge, the Who, and so forth. During the late 19th century, there was popular music and singers—and musicians went on national tours just as they do today. Only the stars of the late 19th century played the cornet and the trombone and performed with such wind bands as Gilmore’s Band, the Sousa Band, and the World Renowned Liberati Band.